Discover the latest eating-well guidelines that can keep you healthy and slim

Youve heard: Always stick with white meat like chicken.

New thinking: Its OK to eat a variety of lean meats, including certain cuts of steak.

Chicken is a slimming source of protein, but other meats (including dark) have big health benefits, too, and will help keep your diet interesting and satisfying, says Monica Reinagel, MS, LN, a nutritionist in Baltimore. "Pork tenderloin, filet and flank steak are all quite lean, and they actually contain more 'good' fats than chicken or tuna," she says. In fact, a recentAmerican Journal of Clinical Nutrition study found that eating 4 ounces of lean red meat per day (such as flank steak) as part of a healthy diet actuallyimprovedcholesterol levels. And while you're at it, have a piece of dark-meat chicken. Turns out, the leg and thigh meat have only about 35 more calories per 3-ounce serving than chicken breast. (But you should still skip the skin, which contains most of the saturated fat.) Another perk: Dark meat is a rich source of taurine, an amino acid that may help decrease heart disease risk in women with high cholesterol, finds a study from New York University School of Medicine.

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